Confounding Light
Confounding Light is a unique Council Mission added by the Slingshot Content Pack for XCOM: Enemy Unknown. This mission carries a randomized Operation designation and takes place in a random Chinese city. Acquisition Confounding Light is available the month following Friends In Low Places (25 days later).XComStrategyGame.XGFundingCouncil, DefaultGameCore.ini, game file, XCOM: Enemy Within (2013). It is initiated by a Council transmission received at the Situation Room: Mission Brief Mission Objectives Mission Site This mission takes place in a train station, complete with a high-speed commuter train. A unique map, the station features two tracks with a central median, and boarding areas on each side. Numerous benches and potted plants are available to be used for half cover, while vending machines, lockers, and advertising provide full cover. Within the three-car train, half cover is available throughout, while full cover is only available near the doorways between cars. The squad starts out in a corner of the map, near the train's rear. The first (rear) car contains one transponder location, the second car contains two transponder locations, and the third car contains a transponder location along with the control room. Enemy Types The alien forces encountered during this mission consist primarily of Thin Men who are present on the map at the start of the mission, and drop in as the squad progresses. Mutons are also air-launched from the battleship either as your soldiers advance up the train (e.g. on turn #5), or the next turn after you activated a transponder (e.g. transponder activated on turn #2 have Muton(s) drop in on turn #3). They use Overwatch as their first action. As to how many of them drop in at once, it can be one, two and even 4 at once on Impossible. Tactics When selecting a squad, keep in mind that the follow-up mission aboard the alien Battleship will be offered shortly after Confounding Light's completion. Any soldiers that are wounded will not have sufficient time to recover before the next mission begins, so plan accordingly. This mission presents a unique challenge in that it has a finite time limit of 10 turns; activating transponders does not extend the time limit like deactivating power nodes do in Bomb Disposal missions. The squad must advance quickly enough to place all four transponders and reach the train's control console within the time limit. Note that reaching the control console with your last action in the last turn counts as a loss (this seems to be a bug as Bradford still comments on your victory). Considering the time limit and that eliminating all opposition is not required to complete the mission, aliens who are not an immediate threat can sometimes be ignored to focus on the transponders. Additionally, it should be noted that activating a transponder makes Mutons dropping into the map next turn, while not activating a transponder should delay Mutons dropping in until e.g. turn #5. The places of their deployment is not randomized though. Only one soldier needs to reach the train's controls, so a Sniper with Damn Good Ground and Low Profile can hang back and take advantage of high ground and low cover by climbing the ladder at the rear of the train and advancing slowly along the roof. An Assault with Lightning Reflexes can be useful to counter the aliens' frequent use of Overwatch. If two are available, consider replacing a Sniper or Heavy with a second Assault, as Run & Gun (along with Rapid Fire) may also prove useful. A Support with the Sprinter ability may be well suited for this mission, and a Heavy with a rocket kept in reserve can be useful to clear the control room in a hurry (a pair of Thin Men occasionally hole up within). Also a heavy can fire a rocket at one of Thin Man packs without triggering them, as none of them are patrolling; he can even clear both with Danger Zone if moved in one of the appropriate tiles. Damaging the train during the mission is possible, and in fact very likely, but doesn't fail the mission. DO NOT SEND A MEC to the controls, as they cannot operate the train. Status Updates The following status updates are received from Central Officer Bradford during the mission: Mission Debriefing Rewards The Council rewards XCOM with 2 Engineers. Completing the mission rewards the "Bait the Hook" achievement, as well as the "All Aboard" achievement if completed with more than 3 turns left on the timer. The next mission, Gangplank, will be offered by The Council after a brief respite of two days. In XCOM: Enemy Within, you will earn alien corpses also from enemies that weren't killed by XCOM soldiers. Gallery XCOM-EU - Confounding Light Mission2.jpg|The commuter train is successfully set in motion. XCOM-EU - Battleship attacking the city.jpg|The alien battleship flies over the city. References Category:Missions (XCOM: Enemy Unknown) Category:DLC (XCOM: Enemy Unknown)